Woj bomb:

Thybulle was mocked to the Sixers on a bunch of draft boards. He averaged 3.5 steals per game playing for Washington in the PAC-10 and was widely regarded as one of the top defensive prospects in the draft.

This is what I wrote about Thybulle, after the jump:

Thybulle is the other guy I see mocked to the Sixers with frequency, and Investor Jeff says he’s wary of taking another Washington guy after watching Markelle Fultz turn into a huge bust.

Matisse is considered to be one of the top defensive products in this draft, a lanky wing who averaged a ridiculous 3.5 steals per game as a senior.

Two things about that:

  1. The PAC-12 was not great this past season. Washington won the league with a 15-3 record at 27-9 overall, then got crushed by UNC in the tournament (they lost by 22 points as Thybulle shot 1-8)
  2. UW played 2-3 zone

To that second point, I see some people saying that Thybulle is fool’s gold, that he racked up steals just swiping entry passes as one of the two players at the top of the zone. That’s a valid point, but when I look at the tape, I see a guy who looks athletic enough to be disruptive while sliding around the floor at the NBA level.

When you think about what he might look like playing alongside the likes of Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Jimmy Butler, or even Zhaire Smith, there are some fun possibilities for what the Sixers could be defensively in 2019. There might be some overlap with a Smith skill-set, but you can always use good wings in the modern day NBA.

Offensively, Thybulle only scored 9 points a game while shooting 30% from three as a senior, but that number was as high as 35% as a junior and 40% as a sophomore. His scoring game is not polished, but there’s room to grow.

Bill Simmons, your thoughts?


Edit: Note from KOC –

Thybulle didn’t work out for anybody because multiple reporters said he had a promise from an NBA team, which I guess we can now say was the Sixers.

Stats: